Magnetic and transport properties of NiFe-SiO/sub 2/-NiFe trilayers

Magnetic coupling between Ni/sub 81/Fe/sub 19/ double thin-films separated by an insulating SiO/sub 2/ spacer layer is investigated with structural measurements, cross-sectional imaging, magnetization measurements, and transport under the conditions of variable spacer thickness ranging from 0 to 5000 /spl Aring/. We consider several models to explain the coercivity variation with spacer thickness as well as the transport measurements.